American Oil Company v. M/T LACON, Civ. A. No. 2758.

• Decision Date: 21 August 1973
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 2758.
• Parties: AMERICAN OIL COMPANY, Plaintiff, v. M/T LACON et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Georgia

398 F. Supp. 1181

AMERICAN OIL COMPANY, Plaintiff, v. M/T LACON et al., Defendants.

Civ. A. No. 2758.

United States District Court, S. D. Georgia, Savannah Division.

August 21, 1973.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Walter C. Hartridge, II, and Edwin D. Robb, Jr., Bouhan, Williams & Levy, Savannah, Ga., for plaintiff.

W. Spencer Connerat, Jr., and Ralph O. Bowden, III, Hunter, Houlihan, Maclean, Exley, Dunn & Connerat, Savannah, Ga., for M/T Lacon and Owners.

Julian C. Sipple, Chamlee, Dubus & Sipple, Savannah, Ga., for Atlantic Towing Co. and Tug Calhoun.

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

LAWRENCE, Chief Judge.

This admiralty action grows out of a collision that occurred about 7:30 P.M. on November 27, 1970, in which the Motor Transport Lacon struck the pier of American Oil Company which is located on the south bank of the Savannah River near Savannah. The Lacon is owned by a Liberian corporation. Another defendant is Atlantic Towing Company, owner of the tugs Lawton M. Calhoun and Robert W. Groves which assisted in the docking operation of the Lacon. At the time of the collision the latter vessel was being handled by a docking master furnished by Atlantic to the defendant shipowner.

American Oil Company sues for the cost of repairs to the pier and other damages and expenses in the total amount of around $107,000.

In its answer the shipowner contended that the sole cause of the collision was the breach by Atlantic Towing Company of its implied warranty to perform the docking operation in a workmanlike manner and with a seaworthy tug. It filed a cross-claim against Atlantic Towing Company on the same theory. In answering the original complaint Atlantic denied that the Calhoun contributed to the collision. The towing company cross-claimed against the Lacon for damages to the tug sustained during the docking operation.

I — FINDINGS OF FACT

(1) Oceangoing vessels calling at the port of Savannah are met by a pilot boat and a licensed pilot. On the afternoon of the collision on November 27, 1970, Bar Pilot Joseph Ryan boarded the Lacon at the seabuoy. Atlantic Towing Company does not furnish bar pilot service and the vessel proceeded up the Savannah River under the direction of Captain Ryan.

(2) The business of Atlantic Towing Company includes that of providing tug and docking master services for the berthing and unberthing of vessels at Savannah. Customarily, the agent of the vessel notifies the towing company a day or two in advance of the arrival of a vessel requiring such services and such appears to have been the procedure in the case of the Lacon.

(3) When the tanker reached the slip of Gulf Oil Company some distance downstream from the point of collision, she was met by the tug Lawton M. Calhoun. At that point James R. Strickland boarded the Lacon in the capacity of Docking Master. On reaching the bridge he handed the Master a copy of Atlantic Towing Company's Schedule of Rates, Terms and Conditions for Tug Services (Atlantic's Ex. #16). The Master signed another document submitted to him under which he acknowledged the services of the tugs Lawton M. Calhoun and Robert W. Groves. Exhibits 26-31 of Atlantic show prior occasions during 1970 in which the Master of the Lacon had acknowledged such docking services in accordance with the Conditions and Rates of the towing company. The Court will have occasion hereafter to deal with the legal effect of the "Rate Sheet" and the provision thereof under which Atlantic Towing Company immunizes itself from responsibility for damages to vessels as a result of acts or orders of its Docking Masters or from the docking or undocking of ships. It provides that when a Docking Master goes aboard a vessel assisted by a tug he becomes the servant of the shipowner. These documents were handed the Master of the Lacon around 5:10 P.M.

(4) When she reached the old Seaboard Coastline Railroad bridge about one-half mile or 2750 feet downstream from the pier of American Oil Company, Bar Pilot Ryan relinquished direction of the vessel's movements to Docking Master Strickland. Just before this was done, Captain Ryan ordered the Lacon's engine to be stopped. She had been proceeding at a speed of 7 or 8 knots. This order was transmitted by telegraph to the engine room. The tide which was flooding at about 2 knots lacked two hours of being high. The Lacon continued to move upstream.

(5) The Docking Master's order was relayed to the engine room by the mate who was in the pilot house.

(6) Shortly before Captain Strickland took over as pilot from Captain Ryan he ordered the two tugs to take station at the Lacon's port bow. It is customary for the tugs to make fast to the vessel by mooring line.

(7) Docking Master Strickland had informed the Lacon's Master that he planned to dock her on the starboard side. The pier runs parallel to the Savannah River. The operation in question requires a 180° clockwise turn of the vessel and utilization of the turning basin on the north side of the River across from American Oil Company's pier.

(8) A short distance downstream from the pier where the Lacon was to dock a shoal makes from the north bank of the River toward the channel. The shoal tends to cause vessels to sheer to port, that is, in the direction of American Oil Company's pier. In view of the flooding tide and the effect of the shoaling, Docking Master Strickland had decided to dock the Lacon in the manner described, an operation that is not unusual.

(9) About five minutes before the collision the Calhoun had been made fast to the Lacon by a 7½ inch dacron line. The two tugs stayed in communication with the Lacon by walkie-talkie.

(10) As a result of the continued sheer to port, Captain Strickland gave a "full astern" order to the mate. At the time of giving this direction Strickland was standing near the ship's Master on the port wing of the bridge and in full view of the mate and the telegraph. Directions were given in English. Mr. Strickland was under the impression that the mate, a Greek, understood the order. There is evidence that he did not. Meanwhile, the vessel continued to sheer to the left. The first order for "full astern" was followed by another. Apparently, it was not immediately complied with by the engine room. Bar Pilot Ryan who was in or near the wheel house then shouted in a loud voice, "Full astern." According to him, the mate thereupon passed the order below.

(11) From forty-five seconds to sixty seconds elapsed between the first "full astern" order and compliance with such signal.

(12) No testimony was presented by the shipowner from any officer or anyone in the engine room to explain the tardiness of response to the telegraph order. As a result of lack of prompt reaction Captain Strickland requested the mate to give the telegraph a jingle, indicating "emergency full astern." The mate did not comply, according to Strickland who then went over to the telegraph and gave it two or three quick jingles.

(13) By this time there was a very real emergency. Contact of the vessel with the dock was imminent. Meanwhile, the two tugs were pushing against the port bow of the Lacon in an effort to turn it away.

(14) The Docking Master had requested that the ship's anchors be dropped in order to stop forward movement or to lessen the impact. The brake mechanism of the starboard anchor was defective or inoperative and the chain continued to pay out. The port anchor took hold but did not stop the Lacon's progress toward the dock.

(15) The Master of the Calhoun was ordered to back "full astern" in an attempt to soften the blow. The Robert W. Groves which had not been made fast to the port bow of the Lacon backed off in order not to impede the work of the other tug. At this point the tug Calhoun went aground near the south bank of the River and her dacron line parted on account of the enormous stress on it (around 60,000,000 pounds) as a result of the forward motion of the Lacon. Moments later the tanker's bow struck the extreme northeast corner of the pier at which she was to have docked. The impact resulted in minimal damage to the Lacon which was moving very slowly at the time. However, the force of the blow was sufficient to tear the steel pilings apart and move an entire section out into the berthing area.

FINDINGS AS TO LIABILITY OF THE DEFENDANTS

(A) SHIPOWNER

(16) Negligence on the part of the Lacon is abundantly established.

To begin with, when a moving vessel collides with a fixed object, there is a presumption that she is at fault and a prima facie case of negligence by the ship in motion is established. The Oregon, 158 U.S. 186, 15 S.Ct. 804, 39 L.Ed. 943; The Victor, 153 F.2d 200 (5th Cir.); Brown & Root Marine Operators Inc. v. Zapata Off-Shore Company, 377 F.2d 724 (5th Cir.); Ernest Construction Company v. Tug Commodore, 294 F.Supp. 15, 18 (D.C.Ala.); Patterson Oil Terminals, Inc. v. Port Covington, 109 F.Supp. 953 (D.C.Pa.) aff'd, 205 F. 2d 694 (3rd Cir.); International Terminal Operating Company v. Naviera Aznar, S. A., 198 F.Supp. 214 (D.C.N.Y.).

(17) Either there was faulty communication or reception of telegraphic orders or lack of response to orders by those in the engine room.

The shipowner presented no evidence to rebut or explain the failure to heed signals sent from the pilot house. Neither the mate, the Master of the Lacon nor anyone in the engine room testified. Failure to produce important witnesses in an admiralty action may raise the inference that the testimony would have been unfavorable to the party by whom they should have ben called. Trans-Amazonica Iquitos, S. A. v. Georgia Steamship Company, 335 F. Supp. 935 (D.C.Ga.); O. F. Shearer & Sons v. Cincinnati Marine Service, Inc., 279 F.2d 68 (6th Cir.).

(18) I find that the shipowner and the Lacon are liable for the damages sustained by American Oil Company as a result of the collision (allision, it is sometimes called) of the vessel with the pier.

(...